


Snag

by yeaka



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ficlet, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 13:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20706878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Noctis rescues Prompto from utter hopelessness.





	Snag

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Final Fantasy XV or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

The only thing more boring than Insomnia’s towering walls is having to write an essay on their construction. Noctis knows more about the political incentives and ramifications than most, but his brain seems to have shut most of it out in an effort of self-defense. He simply can’t function with such dull information rattling around inside him. He has two different textbooks open on the table, and he’s scanned both several times, but nothing’s sunk in. His paper is empty. If Ignis weren’t vacuuming his living room and occasionally shooting him expectant looks, he’d pitch the paper and books right out his window and just give up. 

He’s so relieved when his phone rings. He knows Ignis won’t let him leave, even if both Gladiolus and Prompto beg him to come hang out, but he can still probably sneak in a few minutes of conversation. At this point, he welcomes any distraction. A plump chocobo doodle takes up his display, denoting that it’s his best friend calling. 

He answers with a hopeful, “Hello?”

_“Noooct,”_ Prompto whines, _“I need you!”_

Noctis shuffles his chair away from Ignis’ direction, turning to hide his blush. He wasn’t expecting _that_ kind of distraction, but he’ll definitely take it. He can’t dirty-talk back, but he does swipe a nervous tongue over his lips and ask, “Yeah? What do you need, babe?”

_“You, you have to come help me!”_ That doesn’t sound sexy, and now that Noctis really listens, neither does Prompto’s tone. When Noctis doesn’t answer, Prompto whimpers, _“I’m really freaking out over here—I don’t know what to do! This is so scary!”_

Noctis’ stomach drops. “What’s wrong?”

_“I can’t even describe it—you have to come over!”_

Noctis wants to, and not just because of his essay anymore—he can hear the fear in Prompto’s voice, and it’s supremely unsettling. “I’ll try to come. Should I bring Ignis? Can you at least give me an idea of what’s happening?”

_“I don’t even know where to start... you just have to see it for yourself... you’ll help me, right?”_

“Yeah, I’ll... hold on, I’ll get Ignis to drive me.”

_“Thanks! Please, hurry!”_

The phone clicks; he’s hung up.

Noctis swivels around, only to find Ignis already staring at him. He explains, “Prompto’s in trouble.”

The judgmental look instantly gives way to worry. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, he said it was hard to explain... can you drive?”

Ignis doesn’t need to be asked twice; he nods. He switches off the vacuuming cleaner, and a second later, he’s in the hallway stepping into his shoes. Noctis follows, homework long forgotten. University’s important, but even Ignis agrees that Prompto’s _way_ more important.

They drive over in tense silence, during which Noctis texts Prompto from the passenger seat and gets only crying emojis back. That at least tells him that whatever’s going on isn’t fatal. He’d still feel a lot better if Prompto explained. He feels like Ignis is driving just a _tad_ faster than he should, but Noctis doesn’t say anything about it. When they pull up outside Prompto’s building, Noctis hops out, and Ignis drives off, but Noctis knows he’s just going to park and then will follow Noctis in. If needed, they’ll call Gladiolus too, and if that’s not enough, the whole Crownsguard, because nothing bad is ever going to happen to Prompto so long as Noctis can help it.

He knocks on the door once and doesn’t get a chance to do it again—Prompto wrenches it open. He looks fidgety and sleep-deprived, and he ushers Noctis right in. Noctis follows him through the entranceway and into the living room, where the television frozen on a familiar pause screen. Prompto sits down on the couch and picks up a controller, unpausing the game. The familiar heavy rock music of Justice Monsters X screeches out, but with blaring audio feedback and every fifth beat missing. Prompto hurriedly snatches up the remote and turns it down. 

He points to his digital car, which seems to be floating in mid-air. So are all the structures around it. There’s no ground anywhere, just hovering huts and trees and random bits of shrubbery. The skybox is strangely warped, and another car’s tilted on its side in the distance, wheels spinning. It’s not going anywhere. 

Noctis vaguely recognizes a few of the graphical assets. The song’s harder to make out. Prompto groans, “It totally glitched out on me, but I’m on _the last level_, and the last time I saved was the beginning of the green cup! I got gold metals in _three_ sewer levels since then! Noct, I _can’t_ go through that again! But like, I don’t even know if I’ll be put back there or not! What if I turn it off and my _whole save_ is gone? I’ve never seen a glitch this big! The _last level_, Noct! I’m almost done!”

He looks up at Noctis with big, blue, watery eyes, and Noctis wants to kill him. 

For a long moment, Noctis just looks between Prompto and the television. Then he snaps, “You idiot, I was actually worried!”

“You should be; I could lose all my progress! I was up all night doing that last sewer level over and over again, and I finally—”

He stops at the sound of footsteps; evidently, Ignis has let himself in. He walks right into the living room, glances down at Prompto, and seems to let out a sigh of relief at seeing him in one piece.

Noctis dryly shares, “His game froze.”

Ignis deadpans, “What?”

“Not _froze_,” Prompto corrects, “glitched the fuck out! Look at this shit! The final save point in the game is _right there_ and—” He cuts off at Ignis’ sharp stare. Noctis is half sure that Ignis is just going to march over, grab Noctis’ sleeve, and drag him right back to his essay.

But Ignis _is_ a gamer, and like Noctis, he must at least understand that this is a problem, even if he must not appreciate being worried for his friend’s safety for no good reason. He stiffly informs Noctis, “I’ll be back by three.”

Noctis nods, and Ignis sees himself out. Prompto gulps, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you guys, I was just really—”

Noctis doesn’t listen. He takes a seat on the couch right next to Prompto, so close that it’s easy to nudge Prompto with his hip and extricate the controller from Prompto’s clenched fingers. Prompto nervously hands it over. Noctis carefully sets the car in reverse and begins to slowly back out towards the warp gate. 

The car disappears through it. He keeps going. The screen flashes through a few jarring white frames. Then he’s rolling smoothly through the underground sewers, across the last finish line. He stops.

He puts the car in park, waits a few seconds, and starts driving back the way he came.

He pokes through the warp gate, and the world loads in as it should, ground and all. The spinning car in the distance is gone. The music loops into the correct rendition of the song. Noctis keeps driving slowly across the over world stage, careful not to do anything crazy with the camera and put any more strain on the game. He just needs to make it over the save circle. 

He does, brings up the save menu, and saves in one of the four free slots left. Then he exits the game. He can hear Prompto sucking in a breath beside him. 

He loads it back up. It takes an absurdly long time to start, like all Justice Monsters games seem to. Then he’s on the save circle he just drove into. He does a donut around it just to be sure, but the ground stays there, and the last track’s warp gate is clearly visible in the distance. 

He passes the controller back to Prompto, who honestly looks like he could cry. 

“You’re my hero,” Prompto says, with such sincerity that it leaves Noctis no choice but to forgive him. He leans forwards to put the controller on the coffee table, then comes back to envelope Noctis in a giant hug. 

Noctis hugs him back, rubs a few gentle circles over his spine, and pulls back to kiss his cheek. Noctis can’t help muttering, “Dumbass. You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

Noctis gives him another kiss, this time on the lips, short and sweet, but definitely wants more. Noctis feels like he’s earned it. He tries to pry Prompto’s mouth open and presses one hand against the hem of Prompto’s shirt.

Prompto pulls back and tells him, “Sorry, gotta finish the game first—I’m not taking any chances now!”

Noctis splutters, “But—” But Prompto’s already driving.


End file.
